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Halflings
Halflings (Archaic: Hobbits, Little Folk) are kind, pleasant, easy-going humanoids who are often content to live out quiet, peaceful lives of hard work and good clean fun. Halflings' work ethic and attitude make them perfect for service professions, and many Halflings that live in the cities find themselves gainfully and happily employed as innkeepers, bartenders, cooks, waiters, etc. Halflings are also well-known for their senses of humor and appreciation of a good practical joke, and often go to great lengths to pull off elaborate but always harmless pranks. Halflings also occasionally live together on their own in small, decentralized country hamlets where their lives are governed by mutual respect and good neighborly behavior. They build iconic underground homes into the hillside and live together in peace and harmony. While most Halflings are content to settle down and live a comfortable life valuing hearth and home, there are a sizable minority who feel a great wanderlust and take up the path of the adventurer. In those instances their small size, dexterity, and infectiously optimistic personalities lend themselves well to the path of the Bard and the Rogue, and most Halfling adventurers turn to those professions or something similar. Description Origins As the Halflings are a rustic and simple folk, so too is their cosmology and understanding of their own origins. It is believed that Halflings first walked the face of Ulleria during the 2nd Age, at the height of the 3rd Human Empire. Halfling stories tell of how Yondalla, the Halfling goddess of verdant abundance, protection, and nurture, was saddened that she did not have the creative power to create mortal children of her own, as many of the other gods had done. She decided to invite a number of other good-aligned deities to a special feast at her home in the Green Fields to honor them all for their contributions to the world and their dedication to justice. Many of the good and lawful gods, including prominent creator deities like Abadar and Moradin, were delighted to attend. She served those in attendance a spectacular home-cooked meal, with fresh meats, vegetables, and cheeses, fine wines, mead and ale, and all enjoyed themselves for what seemed like several days of good food, good comfort, and good fellowship. All the gods praised Yondalla for her kindness and welcoming spirit, and expressed their desire to come again. As the feast was ending and the guests began to take their leave, Yondalla gathered together the crumbs and leftovers that had fallen from the other gods places and added to them her own love and power and desire for little ones to care for. As she prayed, from the crumbs rose the first Halflings, looking up with wide eyes and bright smiles at their divine mother. She sent her children out into Ulleria to explore and to learn, and to settle down and build good homes filled with hospitality and comfort. Racial Abilities '''Pure Spirits: '''The Halflings' gentle nature and kind hearts make them far less susceptible to dark mystical influences than others. Halflings receive a +4 bonus to any checks made to resist corruption.